You all wrote so many incredible questions that I actually had to categorize them so I could wrap my brain around them. Then I told Lisa since she got me into this, she needs to help me with the answers, so you all can look forward to some helpful answers from my always-elusive friend Lisa who really does exist even though she doesn't blog and never comments here. What's with that??? Two of you wrote some very funny questions and so I thought I'd answer one of those each time I answer the serious questions, just to keep things light. From Vicki: How do you choose baby names? The short version: Randomly. I mean, we know that God takes names very seriously now, but when we were starting out, no one had ever really challenged us with that thought. The long version (Potentially boring. Feel free to skip.): So our firstborn was named for my husband's closest three friends at the time, the second boy was a name we liked plus my mother-in-law's maiden name, the third was named for my brother and grandfather but is called something entirely different (go figure). Our first daughter's name was one we liked the Biblical meaning of, but her middle name came about because the then-four-year-old approached me one day and said, "I think her name should be --- ---". "Really?", I replied. "Why do you think that?" "Because God told me", he said. Well, OK, then. Not sure whether he had a word from the Lord or not, but the story is fun to tell and the kids get a kick out of it. Fifth is a girl with a name we like plus her middle name is Joy because we wanted to clearly communicate to the naysayers that we thought a fifth child was a joy! Sixth is named after a family friend and has the most unusual name of the bunch. Most people say, "Huh?" or call her something entirely different. Seventh is named Christian because, um, well, because we're Christians... and the last little guy was named for his grandfather on one side and great-great grandfather on the other. And now for the serious question (although Vicki was probably being serious when she asked about the names, but it was a fun and easy one to answer all the same): My name is Rebecca and I live in Washington State with my husband and our four preschoolers; Daniel (5.5), Michael (almost 4), Mercy (2) and Josiah (2 months). Your recent post about leaving your older kids in charge while you left them for the day was so awesome- Just to think of being able to do that some day with mine was like a window into the beautiful future of training these little ones up! (from Kendra- YES! I am so glad it encouraged you because I was there not so long ago and I remember thinking, "This is gonna be SO great!" Hang in there!) My question is about nursing. You mentioned in one of your recent posts that you were pumping every three hours to help your newest little guy stay fed. Are you unable to breastfeed? Or are you doing pumping to increase your supply? After successfully nursing my oldest three, I was a little confused at why I've had trouble nursing my fourth little guy. He has a pretty small mouth, has gained weight slowly and takes a long time to eat. At two weeks my milk supply kind of disappeared and I spent the next two weeks nursing, pumping and bottle feeding the expressed milk to help him gain weight and to help increase my supply. Now, at two months, his weight is much better and I'm not pumping 'round the clock but I'm still thinking he could be a better nurser if maybe I helped him more with his latch or something... Before I had Josiah, I knew that nursing was difficult for some women and some babies but I hadn't experienced that with my own. I am just curious to know what struggles you and your babies have had or are having and what you have tried to do to remedy them. I have enjoyed nursing my babies for the sweet bonding time it brings as well as for the health benefits the babies receive but this time around nursing has been more of a struggle and painful physically as well. I'd appreciate any thoughts you have! May God bless you and yours today, -rebecca After fifteen years of breastfeeding babies, it still amazes me that most first time moms are not told how difficult breastfeeding can be. I was one of them and I thought, "It's natural. It's just what babies do." Except mine didn't. Even the lactation consultant at the hospital (a BIG San Francisco hospital that saw lots of births) told me he was the laziest baby she'd ever seen. Great. I was a 22-year-old first time mom who tried my best but ultimately stopped pumping for him when he was six weeks old and just went to formula. Part of the reason was that I was in terrible pain and part of it was that I didn't see a reason to keep at it. I don't regret the decision, and oddly enough he is one of our few children without food allergies. He was a healthy baby and is super smart, so there go all the reasons to have breastfed him, eh? With every single baby breastfeeding has been excruciatingly painful until about six weeks. Time after time I was told I must not be getting them to latch on correctly, but when I would seek help from LLL, consultants, or midwives, they would tell me everything looked great. This is one of the reasons I wish the "experts" would stop telling moms that "if done right, breastfeeding doesn't hurt". I'm sorry, but at least for me, that's not true. It wasn't until our seventh that I realized (ok, yes, I'm a little slow) that my anatomy factored into all of this in a significant way. When I contacted yet another lactation specialist last year and told him that I had never seen this issue addressed in any breastfeeding literature, he told me that in all his experience, he's had two moms like me. TWO. Wow. And his advice? I must do whatever it takes to keep baby nursing eventually if that's what's important to me, and if that means pumping until baby's mouth can handle my, um, size, then that's the way it is. I could have hugged this man if he wasn't all the way up in Canada! Finally, an expert who realized that I wasn't doing anything wrong, and that given my God-given features, it would hurt anyway. So when our little guy came along last month, I knew that once my milk came in, I would pump until about six weeks. It is a huge commitment, as you know, but I am willing to stick it out because I know the benefits all the way around are so worth it. But here's the deal. It's not a hill I am going to die on. If little Joe doesn't latch on this week (he's six weeks today), I am not going to make it the central issue of my life. There are seven other children in this home who need me equally, and to continue to make breastfeeding an idol would bring no benefit to anyone. I fully expect him to breastfeed as the others have, but if he doesn't, that's ok. I might cry a little because I'm a mom and that's what we do, but I realize that breastfeeding alone does not make me a good mom. There are many, many, many other facets of mothering Joe that will contribute to a healthy childhood as a whole. I'm not sure how my answer will help you in your situation, Rebecca, but I will pray for you and ask the Lord to give you wisdom. And for the pain to subside as well! Peace, Kendra

Hey Kendra! I am going on 37 weeks pregnant now and I am needing some ideas for keeping my girls occupied (4.5 yrs and 19 mos.) while I am in bed recuperating the first few weeks. I don't want them getting bored and getting into mischief so I need activities they can do while I am in bed or on the couch supervising them. Thanks so much for any help you can give. I really appreciate your wisdom and practical advice. Hope all is well with your pregnancy. ~Andrea Hi Andrea- I had a friend who had to be on bed rest for all four of her pregnancies. She would park herself on the couch for the day, fill a cooler with snacks and drinks the kids could help themselves to, and put up a gate to keep them all within her reach. The children were close in age- four in six years- so she had a ready supply of DVDs, books, toys, and coloring books, but she doled them out one at a time. While you won't be bedridden, the idea of having things close at hand and prepared so you don't have to think on the spot is a good one. In that vein, I would also have breakfast ready to go the night before. Even having cereal bowls, spoons, and the cereal set out on the table is one less thing to think about. Make sure you are drinking all the water you need throughout the day as well as getting enough protein in whatever form you can. Almonds in a bowl so you can grab them, peanut butter on crackers, etc. can help you get through the first weeks and still keep you nourished and hydrated. And this might seem obvious, but don't start anything new. No new school plans. No new projects. No potty training! Blessings, ~Kendra

More responses from generous friends: Alas, I live far too far away to come for a dip but, oh, how I have milk bottle legs (much too white!) that are in desperate need of a tan! When we have had seasons to shift things up: ~3 subjects that we determine must be done everyday: for us, math, grammar, Latin -- limit them to 30 minutes each--set the timer. ~have a goal time to head outside (1.5 hrs after beginning)--remind kids. Offer juice/treat if everyone meets the goal time. ~Then read, read, read---outside. Everyone feels a change of pace, we still are getting circle time, and history, geography, science--etc---but doing it outside gives everyone a change of scenery (read for another 1.5 hr outside). Done by lunch then... Works for us crazy Canucks to the north who are hanging in there with school, some kids doing school on Sat. so that "we can get more summer." ~grin~ HANGETH THOU IN THERE, O KENDRA!!!!!!!! He's got you in His grip! All's grace... Ann -------------------------- Gosh I wish had a bowl of wisdom for you. Or at least a good drink. But I know the greatest way to help is through prayer. With that the two times that come to mind semi recently, where I have or had to pare down school and/or my life was traveling and last April. For traveling I bought a vocab book at 3 different grade levels that was a fun word game type thing. The kids loved it. Still do. Kept them reading, and doing a little fill in type writing. And I bought math crossword puzzles from Scholastic to keep up their math facts. They read books and journaled our vacation. Last April I was emotional, spent, confused at the direction we were headed. I prayed and prayed and then stopped school all together (except 15 minutes for my phonics kid). I was ready to jump back into school by mid August with a clear vision of where we were headed but still waited until after Labor Day to start. I probably sound like a slacker but I was new woman come September and I am so thankful that I did stop. I do believe I accomplished more later because I stopped when I did. I know now it was the season I was in (I was worried it was me being irresponsible) because I feel so differently this year. This gave me time and energy to take care of myself and other 'stuff'. Where's your outside help? Anyone there to do easy stuff for you in the afternoon so you can do the stuff in the morning hours that you feel only you can do? Will the kids really be that behind if you do all you can by 2 and then be done? I'd tell you to remember to sleep, because the lack of sleep will zap your energy, but if you're too uncomfortable that wouldn't help at all :) Drink your water! Brain function lags and headaches ensue due to lack of hydration. I am praying (and have been). At least if none of my ideas helped you know I am praying. Dana

Five more weeks till little baby boy is born. You all know what challenges the last eight to ten weeks present: I'm huge, overheated, not sleeping, constantly in the bathroom, can't breathe with a little guy's feet in my ribs, and I am just sure Tums are the fifth food group. God, in His wisdom and mercy, has provided me with a strong support group of moms whose brains I can borrow when in need, and last week was the time. The email I sent to nine friends who are homeschooling moms of four or more said: OK, girls, I am T-I-R-E-D. And super unmotivated to supervise school right now. I want to put my feet up in the sunshine, get a tan, and read a book. I have been praying that the Lord would give me stamina and grace in these last six weeks of pregnancy, and He has been faithful, faithful. I am, however, a goner by 2 p.m. So, here's where I need help. What have been the best things you've done or not done when needing to alter your days for a temporary reason? I am not really willing to scrap school right now because if I do so only to start up again after baby arrives, we'll be schooling all summer long and none of us wants to do THAT! We tend to do a few things in the summer, but we all look forward to a change of pace that includes swimming for several hours every day. In exchange for your time, I invite you all to come swimming this summer. I'll plug in the blender and make some smoothies, and then we can all put our feet up in the sunshine, get a tan and read a book ;) Well, thanks to such a faithful and fantastic group of friends, I'll be able to post their responses over the next few days. The first to respond was Cheryl: I don't know what your homeschool days look like, so just throwing this out there in an ignorant fashion. Is it possible to do all the "hard" stuff that requires your one on one, or serious "mom" time, early in the day and leave things like reading aloud until later in the day? Maybe even move your circle time to that dreaded 2:00 hour? I'm trying to put myself in your shoes a bit and imagining taking care of math, spelling, language arts and that sort of thing all together in the morning while I was fresh, and then gathering everyone around me on the couch, or outdoors in the sun (seems funny to say that on a rainy day like today), or even piled on my bed for Bible time, singing together, reading aloud, etc. If that's not practical for you, how about dropping anything "extra" from your day and just sticking to the absolute "musts". That would look different for [the older ones] than it would for the younger ones. Of course, they are more capable of working independently into the afternoon and reporting to you, or Dad, later in the day or the next morning with their work. So what if the little ones don't have school through May or into June? I won't tell if you won't ;) And you didn't ask for this, but this is me so here it comes anyway... are you getting enough sleep at night? I know you're a bit of a night owl, but perhaps you can try heading to bed an hour or so earlier for the next few weeks. That might buy you an extra hour of activity into the day. A well rested body labors and delivers more efficiently than an exhausted one, too. My babies, and I, never were harmed by a mid-afternoon caffeine boost either. Iced tea, iced mocha, big ol' glass of Pepsi, whatever. Just sayin'... Praying for energy, stamina, wisdom and peace for you. ~Cher